Hope 2018 is a good year for everyone so far. I found this forum after googling "does free will exists". Apparently there is an active topic discussing this very thing. It seems free speech is 100% an aspect of this forum. I consider that to be both good and bad (every choice has two sides after all), but mostly good. I've been on quite a few forums in my day and most of them were hair-triggers when it came to being banned. Why I Hate People is one of the most noteworthy, in which I made a thread that the veterans didn't like and was banned for pressing for details about certain answers given. And no, I wasn't on WHIP to act like a pseudo-intellectual misanthrope. "Oh ho ho. Look at humans. How droll!" But I digress. Just wanted to make that clear before any assumptions are made.

Back on topic, I'm a little concerned with the things I've seen in the free will thread and some others. I'm seeing a lot of "debate" but not a lot of philosophy, if that makes sense. A lot of insults/ad hominems, a lot of egos the size of a small planet, a lot of not-a-fun-place things. I'm not smart at all (I'm rather stupid actually) and if the site is already like what I said previously, I figure I'm going to really bring out that aspect by being a bit on the slow side, intellectually.

Am I making an issue out of a small amount of nothing or are my concerns valid? Just curious!

Hope 2018 is a good year for everyone so far. I found this forum after googling "does free will exists". Apparently there is an active topic discussing this very thing. It seems free speech is 100% an aspect of this forum. I consider that to be both good and bad (every choice has two sides after all), but mostly good. I've been on quite a few forums in my day and most of them were hair-triggers when it came to being banned. Why I Hate People is one of the most noteworthy, in which I made a thread that the veterans didn't like and was banned for pressing for details about certain answers given. And no, I wasn't on WHIP to act like a pseudo-intellectual misanthrope. "Oh ho ho. Look at humans. How droll!" But I digress. Just wanted to make that clear before any assumptions are made.

Back on topic, I'm a little concerned with the things I've seen in the free will thread and some others. I'm seeing a lot of "debate" but not a lot of philosophy, if that makes sense. A lot of insults/ad hominems, a lot of egos the size of a small planet, a lot of not-a-fun-place things. I'm not smart at all (I'm rather stupid actually) and if the site is already like what I said previously, I figure I'm going to really bring out that aspect by being a bit on the slow side, intellectually.

Am I making an issue out of a small amount of nothing or are my concerns valid? Just curious!

Welcome, you have to keep in mind when a philosophy is debated often times it is a debate between perspectives that people hold dear and personal to them...hence the ad-hominums. Other people are here because they have nothing better to do or cannot hack an academic career.

Other's like me and a few others are just seeking feedback or a dialectic on certain ideas to both improve our own communication and gain a better understanding of our arguments from different angles.

My best advice is either to ignore the people or have fun with it. If you look through the forum you will find the majority of whatever content you are after will be discussed in the first few posts until a form of logistic entropy kicks in and the thread results in chaos.

Back on topic, I'm a little concerned with the things I've seen in the free will thread and some others. I'm seeing a lot of "debate" but not a lot of philosophy, if that makes sense. A lot of insults/ad hominems, a lot of egos the size of a small planet,

That's the down-side of permissive forums. Where the moderation is strict, people have to behave better, but the range of expression is more limited. When it's lax, the silly, the vulgar, the prejudiced and the hostile posters have more leeway. Crusades, personal feuds, bugaboos and drive-by insults thrive. When they become too tiresome, I go away fro a while.

I'm not smart at all (I'm rather stupid actually)

That's no handicap in honest discussion, but can make you easy prey for a meanie.

Am I making an issue out of a small amount of nothing or are my concerns valid? Just curious!

Too early to be making any issues. Try it. If somebody picks a fight, fight them, mock them or ignore them - your choice. If somebody offends you, call them out or ignore them - your choice. Just don't bother complaining. If you don't like it, you don't have to stay.

Welcome, you have to keep in mind when a philosophy is debated often times it is a debate between perspectives that people hold dear and personal to them...hence the ad-hominums. Other people are here because they have nothing better to do or cannot hack an academic career.

Other's like me and a few others are just seeking feedback or a dialectic on certain ideas to both improve our own communication and gain a better understanding of our arguments from different angles.

My best advice is either to ignore the people or have fun with it. If you look through the forum you will find the majority of whatever content you are after will be discussed in the first few posts until a form of logistic entropy kicks in and the thread results in chaos.

Welcome and I hope you find what you are looking for.

True. Like you, I'm just here for feedback, knowledge sharing and (most of all), self-improvement. Hopefully if I end up spending time here I can do just that. I know that perspectives are clung to for dear life like lifelines, but it's easy to lose sight of what philosophy truly is when you get caught up in bickering. Of which I see plenty of.

Hope 2018 is a good year for everyone so far. I found this forum after googling "does free will exists". Apparently there is an active topic discussing this very thing. It seems free speech is 100% an aspect of this forum. I consider that to be both good and bad (every choice has two sides after all), but mostly good. I've been on quite a few forums in my day and most of them were hair-triggers when it came to being banned. Why I Hate People is one of the most noteworthy, in which I made a thread that the veterans didn't like and was banned for pressing for details about certain answers given. And no, I wasn't on WHIP to act like a pseudo-intellectual misanthrope. "Oh ho ho. Look at humans. How droll!" But I digress. Just wanted to make that clear before any assumptions are made.

had the same experience myself - on "the pilosophy" forum. lasted one day - a few hours. mods here are not nazis. so far I've been here posting in the same way for 2 months and not been banned. knock on wood.

welcome! BTW.

as per your interest "freewill" I do not ponder it much - not at all. I personally think we have little or none - governed by instinct as all animals. view the concept of true freewill - i.e that humans have such, as hubris.

but that is just my view on the matter and i stay out of this subject and let others debate it. it does not interest me personally.

Free will vs. determinism is an unsolved question and science hasn't resolved it no matter what people say about the Libet experiments. If you are not familiar with them they say that there is an action potential that exists about 300 milliseconds before you are aware of an intention to act. That is not surprising considering we know there are unconscious forces at work, and while that may limit free will, it doesn't mean we do not have any control over our actions.

Free will vs. determinism is an unsolved question and science hasn't resolved it no matter what people say about the Libet experiments. If you are not familiar with them they say that there is an action potential that exists about 300 milliseconds before you are aware of an intention to act. That is not surprising considering we know there are unconscious forces at work, and while that may limit free will, it doesn't mean we do not have any control over our actions.

300 milliseconds sound about right.

you post reminded me of my mean comment to my GF many year ago - she and I were in Aerobics class (she to lose weight - me for cardio - I like "heavy" ( curves - wieght on arse basically is what i like - not weight all over - she had the prior and why I dated her).

anyway at the time I was "underwieght" (150 at 6'-2") - in class she mentioned something about me being skinny - i got "Triggered" and said "At least I'm not trying to loose weight" (mind you at the time mid 20's I was trying to gain some weight for a decade!). I knew she had a complex about having an arse and I took advantage.

but did so within that 300 millisecond. i.e. i spoke from my subconscious (which rules IMO) before I could think "don't say this to her, it will hurt her"..............

so ya, there is a micro-second (if one is "triggered") where one can say mean things before thinking.

.................but again the whole "free will" debate overall bores me and leave that topic to others.

thanks for reply and for reminding me of my own bad actions in the above particular.